Gunman raids petrol station

Andrew Nowell

A THIEF brandishing a sawn-off shotgun threatened a cashier and stole thousands of pounds in a terrifying raid on a petrol station.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have released CCTV footage of the robbery at the Texaco station store on Manchester Road in Astley just after 5.30am on Monday, March 30.

The brazen thief walked into the store and pulled out a sawn-off shotgun which he pointed at the face of the 21-year-old shop assistant on duty.

He then kept the shop assistant at gunpoint while forcing him to hand over a considerable amount of cash which he stuffed into a large clear blue plastic bag.

The gunman then fled.

The offender is described as being white, about 5ft 7in tall, of a medium build and wearing an Army-style camouflage jacket and matching trousers, with black shoes.

The footage from this robbery shows quite clearly the lengths this gunman went to frighten and intimidate

DC Kevin Byrne from Greater Manchester Police

He was also wearing a black hat with ear muffs, dark gloves and a peaked camouflage hat underneath the hat.

Police are urgently appealing to anyone with information to come forward and believe the offender is local to the Leigh, Tyldesley or Astley areas.

DC Kevin Byrne said: “Watching the footage from this robbery shows quite clearly the lengths this gunman went to frighten and intimidate the shop assistant.

“It would be unthinkable for the majority of people to be faced by a sawn-off shotgun in their place of work and understandably he was extremely distressed.

“Thankfully the weapon was not fired.

“We have now issued CCTV footage of the incident and while it does not clearly show the offender’s face, it does show the distinctive clothing he was wearing during the robbery which we hope someone in the area will recognise as being associated with someone they know.

“I would therefore urge people to look closely at this clothing and if you know of someone who owns this type of outfit then please do the right thing and call us.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.